1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to handling and shipping equipment and more particularly to pallets and skids as are used in manufacturing plants, warehouses and the like to support manufactured and other merchandise for ready movement by forklift trucks and for shipping such merchandise to remote points.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many forms of merchandise-supporting devices such as pallets have been proposed in the prior art. However, manufacturers and warehousemen who use pallets in their own plants and also use pallets to ship merchandise out of their plants have had a problem that has increased costs of shipping. In order for pallets to have a service life long enough to make their use economically practical, expensive, heavy-duty, high quality pallets made of solid hardwood lumber have been utilized. Because of the significant value of the pallets to their owners, their practice has been to require the return of the pallets to them for use over and over again in shipping. This practice appears to have been less than satisfactory, however, because of damage to or loss of pallets resulting from mishandling or abuse and failure of the pallets to be returned.
A pallet assembly proposed to solve the above problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,041. That assembly includes a permanent pallet portion, and a low cost disposable pallet section 33. The disposable pallet section 33 supports the product load to be shipped. Because of the low cost of the disposable pallet section 33 it is said that the shipper need not be concerned whether it is returned or not. The disposable pallet section 33 includes a plurality of projecting locater blocks 39 for holding the disposable pallet section 33 against movement when the disposable pallet section is mounted on the permanent pallet. The downwardly projecting blocks 39 also provide supporting legs or feet for the disposable pallet section 33. The structure of the disposable pallet section 33, including the downwardly projecting blocks 39, add to the cost and weight of the disposable pallet section, and also to the structural complexity of the permanent pallet with which the disposable pallet section is used.